Papa John's Bowl Champions!

Tyler
Scarlet Surge
Date Posted: 12/30/08

For the third season in a row the Rutgers Scarlet Knights can say they are champions of a bowl game. This time, RU has put their stamp on the PapaJohns.com bowl in Birmingham, Alabama.

In one of the most exciting games for the Knights all season, Rutgers stood tall facing adversity down 17-6 at the half. They got a huge break, however, when it was learned that Freshman Quarterback Russell Wilson would not return to the game for the Wolfpack of North Carolina State. Wilson single handily sliced the Knights not only in the passing game, but just as efficiently in the run game as well. The loss of Wilson showed how anemic the Wolfpack were without him on offense. They scored just six points (one touchdown, attempt at the two point conversion failed) in the second half.

Mike Teel's deep 42 yard pass to Kenny Britt proved to be the difference as Rutgers rolled 29-23 over NC State. Teel finished the day 22 of 37 for 321 yards, and 2 touchdowns as he went on to win the bowl game MVP. Britt had a fine day himself hauling in 6 Teel passes for 119 yards and a score. Rutgers third straight bowl victory shows where the state of the program is now at, and where they may be headed. We can only hope it goes north from here.

Bowl game notes: "Jersey" Joe Martinek rushed for 58 yards, all coming in the second half. When he got the ball, he was more than effective averaging 6.4 yards per carry. Tiquan Underwood also contributed quite well for the Knights, bringing in 4 passes for 51 yards and a touchdown. Jack Corcoran was a major part of the RU offensive air attack with 6 receptions for 62 yards in arguably his best performance as a Scarlet Knight. Rutgers forced 4 turnovers on the day. Jason McCourty recovered a fumble on NC State's opening play from scrimmage. Ryan D'Imperio had a key interception late in the 3rd quarter. Devin McCourty also contributed with a timely interception himself in the 4th quarter. Courtney Greene sealed the game by picking off Daniel Evans on a final hail mary attempt. It was a well played game, just four penalities were called.

Thanks for reading on this season on Scarlet Surge - all your RU football news can be found here. I will be writing every week or with updates on the team, recruiting news and statues of players during the off-season so check back often for updated news. Thanks again, and Go Scarlet Knights!